Jaroslav Krob

“We got uniforms, we got our clothing and we began our training sessions. The officers were taking us to the desert, where water is very scarce, in order to train us so that we would eventually not need to drink much water. That is the basic principle for training in the Middle East. So we were walking, going over hills, and we were forbidden to drink water. We would receive one litre of water per day and we had to keep it, that was the most important rule. Later, when we got to Egypt, we were in the Western desert. It was a real desert, a desert life… there was just sand, sand, sand, and no water, only what they would bring us, and what they brought was just a litre per head. And you could not drink too much, so that... I can tell you, I can imagine better life than this. So while we were in Gedera, the real elementary soldier’s training started - what is essential for a soldier: basic physical training, basic military training, marching, morning exercises, etc., so that a soldier would not get lazy. We were not allowed to lie down, we always had to walk, to do something. We were given firearms, we got to learn how to handle them. We did practice shooting, that was easy there, for we were by the sea, and we practiced shooting into the sea. We would place some wooden boxes on the beach, and shoot into them, and the bullets were flying into the sea and thus nobody got hurt. This is important, for a bullet can bounce off, and hurt a lady who just happens to be walking by, for example. So we spent about nine months there and from there they took us to Jericho. Jericho is a beautiful place. There is nothing but water, desert, no... no water, just desert and sand, nothing grows there and it is 300 metes below sea level, - 286 to be precise. You can imagine, heat of 40-50°C in shade, and this was where we trained for Africa.”

“I went to see the chef and ask him if he needed anything, that my boys now had spare time. The cook says: ´I don’t need any help right now, I got the chicken ready, I got the ducks ready, I got everything. He has such a set of ovens, three rows on top of each other, all together about sixty ovens. With timers, and he knows precisely how long to roast it and when to take each piece out. He doesn’t need to check if the chicken is done already, he can walk away, and he knows when it is done. This time he came there and ´Holy Lord, it is all burnt black.´ He opens the oven and the duck is just perfectly done, golden brown. Just imagine, a roasted duck, makes your mouth water. And he says: ´Open the window, I gotta dump it out into the sea.´ I asked: ´What, why into the sea? This will be for our soldiers to eat´ - ´And you eat this? It’s all burnt, you see.´ I replied: ´In our country, we like the dark parts best. On the other hand, we don’t eat the light stuff, as you Englishmen do.´ An Englishman needs to have the duck meat all green, you could say, like boiled, whereas we like it roasted. So he says: ´God, wait a moment then, bring some baskets!´ I told my boys: ´Guys, get the baskets here!´ There were huge baskets, and he was taking the ducks by two, he always had a pair in one oven, threw it into our basket, it was about six pieces, and I ordered: ´Boys, take it to the dining hall.´ We were on the 13th floor, so we got it all up. The cook asked: ´What shall we do with that?´ I answered: ´Hold on, they will do something.´ And I told them: ´Boys, hurry up, get down quickly, we got something were good for you here. And the boys passed it on to each other: ´Come, there is something good ready for us.´ They came to the dining hall, the tables and chairs were that big. And they said: ´Christ, and we can eat it all?´ I said: ´Take as much as you like.´ And the started dividing it to pieces, they boys ate it, it was good.”

“Then we found out that in the port there were about forty-two sunken ships, ships which were carrying supplies for Tobruk, and that if we wanted, we could go dive there and get whatever we liked. Of course the boys had gas masks, and they used the rubber tubes, those long tubes which are affixed to gas masks, the guys were incredibly inventive. The tube led to the surface where others held it, the guys were telling the one who was diving: ´You can go only the length of the tube, don’t dive deeper.´ He eventually found one of the boats under water, got in and saw a box there. He took the box and brought it up. The box feels light underwater, so he carried it to the surface and the boys then helped him put the box inside our boat. Then others dived, basically all from our team took a dive and we brought all those boxes up, and when we opened it, what not – inside were some ink tapes for typewriters. If you could see what hard work it was to get it all out, how we struggled to get the stuff to the boat, we there would be cigarettes inside them or something like that. But we did also find cigarettes, a lot. They were being packed by fifty thousand in one box. We pulled the box – they are sealed – up to the boat and we divided the contents - let’s say each of us received two thousand cigarettes.”

“One time I was in Pilsen with two friends of mine, waiting for a train. We got on an express train, we get inside and there are three old geezers standing, smoking pipes, chatting and they say: ´Oh, our soldiers, come here, sit down, come here among us, you heroes!´ I felt like a fool... Well, all right then… One still remembers it. So we sat down, then a conductor comes and says: ´Your tickets, please.´ And those old geezers…we were sitting there, we did not say a single word, nothing at all, as if we were not even there. And one of those old guys stands up and says to the conductor: ´Get out of here, or I kick your ass! You want these soldiers, who have fought for you, to give you money on top of that?! Get out of here right now!´ And the conductor says: ´Why, I did not even say a word, I did not say anything at all.´ He really did not, he did not say a single word. He now said: ´But I did not say anything. I did not even ask them for any money.´ ´So get out of here!´ I said: ´All right, all right, calm down. We have a pass.´ For we had a pass allowing us to use the railways for free.”

“We rode on and we arrived there around midnight, and there was bombing going on, heavy bombardment, and it was all in fire, it was not just one or two explosions, but the entire harbour was on fire. So we waited, and after an hour the Germans drew back, and then the disembarkation started. We felt like we were drunk, we were stupefied. We came there and there was a chain foot-bridge. One friend went in front of me and all of a sudden his rifle dropped into the water. He exclaims: ´Christ, my rifle fell down.´ And this Australian says: ´Fuckin´, come on, come on, come on.‘ - ´Yes, sir…´ We were done for. He grabbed another rifle and thrust it into his hands. This way we got to the top, at night, thy did not see us, we held each other’s hands. One of those Englishmen led us – or he was an Australian, he led us to a car and he says: ´Here is the car, get inside.´ You could only feel it, touch it, because it was so dark, absolute darkness. We got in, they closed the door behind us; then, when three or four cars were full, we started. We rode on, I don’t even know where, because it was at night. We arrived around 3. a.m. to some plateau, from there we drove straight. And there he stopped the car, we got out: ´Get out everybody, I gotta take the vehicle away, the car cannot stay here, they would bomb us.´ And he tells to somebody else: ´ The holes are somewhere here, take this rifle and look for that hole. There is a large hole, and ten of you can get in and sleep there.´ So we eventually found it, a deep hole, we threw our stuff in there and crawled in. In that big hole, we lay on the ground, and we slept.”